Haunted by Demon Clown
by Fireblazezz
Summary: When Lou realizes that the imaginary friend of the boy whom she's babysitting is anything but imaginary, and his intents are anything but pure, the panicked girl's rash decision to 'act quickly' in order to protect the boy proves to go unexpectedly... unexpected. And bad. And good. But mostly bad. Laughing Jack x OC Maybe not enough romance for the genre. Genre n Rating may change


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**Prologue**

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Just as Lou was about to draw the finalizing black line of the stylish cartoon zebra that she had drawn on the backside of an old trivial paper worksheet, the ringtone of her cell phone disrupted her. Lou sighed as she put her pencil away and picked up the vibrating object from the wooden surface and paid the screen a foreboding glance, clearly anticipating from whom the call was; the young girl's half-hearted prevision proved itself to be true as 'Jessica Mounds', the name of her kind and faithful but slightly intrusive mother, showed up on the screen beneath the caller's number.

It's not that Lou didn't appreciate her mother's concern for her vulnerable teenage daughter – as she was fully aware of that there were countless amounts of children who were forced to live without receiving the love and support of their parents – but sometimes, just sometimes, the constant phone calls of exaggerative unease and anxiety and making-sure-that-my-girl-is-alright could end up _a tiny bit _molesting. The frequent letters she could handle, but the infinite number of phone calls every morning, every night and every hour would eventually get rather excessive from Lou's aspect. She had plenty of requisite chores to take care of in her unscheduled life already, such as homework, school duties and above all, tasks and services vital in order to sustain her household as she was currently residing all alone in the reasonably large house and had virtually been doing so for the last few years.

But Jessica's tingling mother senses would certainly not witness an unanswered phone call without jumping to the rash conclusion that something was terribly wrong back at home, Lou being fully aware of this fact. Fearing what kind of desperate measures her mother would act to and definitely not wanting to witness the consequences of it all, Lou sighed briefly before calmly pulling her thumb across the touch screen, lifting the phone up and gently pressing it to her ear as she cleared her throat, preparing herself for the inescapable conversation with the person on the other end of the line. "Hi, mom."

"_Lou!" _The teenage deliberately turned the microphones away from her tender eardrum as the predictable high-pitched squeal arose from them.

"_Lou, darling, is it you?! It is you, isn't it?" _Lou wouldn't get the chance to reply before Jessica had finished her hasty sigh of relief and instantly continued with noticeable impatience in her voice. _"Little child, you've _got _to try and pick up your phone a little sooner. Otherwise I might think that you've been abducted or something!"_

Lou couldn't help but smirk at the remark of her overprotective mother as she subconsciously wound the phone wire around her index finger and sat back in the mobile chair. "Heh, I'm sorry about that."

_"Oh, no worries, dear. As long as you're fine…"_

"I'm just dandy, mom, there's no need to worry. I'm not a little child anymore."

A cheeky but gentle snort of disagreement on the other line. _"Pff, nonsense! You'll always be my little girl, Lou", _Jessica asserted flatly, and Lou could picture her proud smile as she spoke, _"no matter how old you are, how many husbands you betray or how many babies you unwillingly have."_

Now it was Lou's time to snort, but hers was mostly out of embarrassment due to the awkward and odd thoughts that were playing through her mom's queer mind. Lou knitted her eyebrows and softly closed her eyes for a moment. "Mom, I'm not planning on getting married for a while, and I'm certainly not ready to get knocked up yet." The fact that those inappropriate words had actually made their way out of Lou's mouth in the first place deranged her slightly, but she quickly discarded them as Jessica let out an amused chuckle at her notice.

"_I know, hon, I was just screwing with you." _A deep and abashed inbreathe to compose herself was heard before the jolly middle-aged woman added semi-seriously: _"But you are doing well, aren't you? You're not sick or bullied at school or anything? Because if you are, let me know _right away _and I'll be on my way."_

"Well—"

_"You've got plenty of food, right? Not starving to death?"_

"No—"

_"Caught a flu?"_

"... If that wa—"

_"Abducted?"_

"How would—"

_"Abducted?! Oh, please don't tell me that you've been abducted!"_

"I just sai—"

_"If you've been sexually harassed then I swear to God…!"_

"Listen—"

_"No fights with your friends, I hope?"_

"Mom!"

"_Oh, but you must be feeling so lonely…!" _Jessica gasped in despair as the obvious realization came to mind and she loudly blamed herself for not being there by her offspring's side. _"Gosh, silly me, I totally forgot… And this time it's been _really _long, hasn't it? Almost a month already…"_

As Jessica sighed deeply once again, Lou gazed emptily out the wide window in front of her, semi-consciously observing the white fluffy clouds sail by in peaceful silence; had it already been a month since she saw her parents in person? Wow, this time time had passed by really quickly…

For the last four years, both of Lou's parents had been away on a regular basis for their own reasons: Her father, Thomas, was politically entangled in his duties, and being the busy businessman that he was, it was an inevitable fact that he was obligated to work away from home a huge lot, be it shorter periods one time and longer periods another time, and as much as he personally would want to visit his little girl back in Oxford more regularly, it was an unreasonable demand whilst in the domains of his strict career unless his obstinate and duteous manager would give him an opportunity to travel, which unfortunately would occur rather rarely. And as Lou's kind-hearted mother was devoted to and inseparable from her husband – both mentally as well as physically – she would often join him on his business trips, staying with him for a period of time and then, with or without him, she would eventually travel back to Oxford to live with Lou for a while, and then set off abroad once again by airplane to personally ensure the safety of her beloved husband, downright dismissing the fact that he was positively protected by at least a dozen beefy bodyguards 24.7; how she could afford the constant two-way tickets back and forth across the planet remained a mystery to Lou.

"… _Lou? Are you still there?" _Jessica's voice brought her back to reality and Lou nodded in response, before perceiving the fact that her mother wasn't able to see neither her face nor her gesture, and so she thereafter affirmed her answer through a consentient murmur. "Yeah, sorry, I just got lost in thought…"

"_Oh… oh, ok, that's understandable I guess, with all your homework, hormones and mind-bugging things going on", _Jessica sighed pitifully, presumably shaking her head as she did so, and in Lou's mind she could picture the movement making the loose bun that she always kept her scarlet hair tied up in sway potently from side to side, like it always did when her mother shook her head or set her head in any kind of motion whatsoever. _"So, what are you doing right now? Besides from talking to your beautiful mother."_

Lou resisted the urge to roll her eyes, even though she knew that her mother wouldn't be able to see it. "Uuuhh, nothing in particular, really", she said abstractedly whilst continuously twisting the delicate wire that she subconsciously had managed to wrap up around her two of her fingers, only this time she was trying to loosen the knot. Touching the edge of her lead pencil, she forthrightly recalled her zebra drawing as it hadn't moved from its situated location right underneath her nose. "Uh, actually I'm drawing right now."

_"... Drawing?"_

Lou hummed in agreement. "Yeah, you know, since everything's going so smoothly and it's so nice and quiet and I haven't got any chores or schoolwork to do right now since it's summer and all, I thought I'd just sit back and rela…" she trailed off, replaying in her mind what she had just divulged. A tad too late had she remembered that by this time of the summer, naturally each and everyone of the students in her school – including herself – were preoccupied with unlimited notorious summer jobs of all kinds, spread all over the country; only this year had Lou sheepishly decided that she would postpone her own summer jobbing period till near the end of summer so that she would actually get some well-earned summer vacation before school starts once again. _Only_ this summer had she planned to be able to experience the relaxant delight of the chill-pill sensation, but clearly that one opportunity she herself had just shattered and blown away with the winds as soon as she made the regrettable mistake of revealing this to her mother.

Lou closed her eyes and prayed quietly for her mother to have misheard her, but unfortunately mothers seem to have the unique ability of snatching up every single detail of their children's words as soon as the subject related to their children's desire to neglect their chores, no matter how minor of importance they were. This fact was confirmed as a gasp of horror arose from the microphones and Lou was once again compelled to rotate the cell phone away from her fragile ear.

"_You're telling me that you're not busy with your summer job?!" _Jessica exclaimed, her alarmed manner obvious. _"You're telling me that you've actually skipped going to summer work _at all _until now?! Lou!"_

Lou was a little taken aback, even though this reaction of her mother's was fairly predictable and well expected to say in the least. Aware of the fact that further deceptions or lies would but only be seen through, and above all not wanting to get on bad terms with her mother, Lou merely let out a deep sigh in subjection and willingly surrendered herself.

"Ok, I admit it that I was kinda planning on skipping the whole thing this summer", she admitted, cautious not to strike a nerve at the other end of the line as she tried to explain herself to her mom. "But hey, it's only because I'm feeling rather tired, you know, and I thought that maybe just _this _time, _only _this time, I could actually get some free time from…?"

Lou's half-hearted pleading was without hesitance interrupted by Jessica's deadpanning:

"_Nonsense, of course you can't skip your summer job!" _she disagreed strictly, and Lou could clearly picture her making that unyielding pokerfaced expression that Jessica always presented when she had made up her mind about something. _"Summer jobs are an important part of a teenage's everyday life, and it is completely necessary for you to abide to that! Whether you are tired or not is completely irrelevant, end of discussion."_

Lou might be persistent, but when involved in an argument with Jessica Brooklyn Miranda Mounds, victory was definitely not guaranteed on her behalf; whilst the women of the Mounds family were stubborn as mules, Lou had also been blessed – cursed in this situation – with the level-headedness of her sober father, enabling her to realize when winning was not an option like in an argument like this. Ultimately, instead of arguing back, as Lou probably would have done in normal circumstances, she ended up shutting her mouth tightly and leaned forward to rest her chin on her knuckle while involuntarily listening to her mother's lecturing.

"_Now, Lou, I suggest you go fetch the newspaper closest to you, and as soon as we end this call, I want you to look through the papers for an appropriate summer job for you", _Jessica finalized after a fair amount of minutes filled with talking. _"Do you promise me that you'll do that, Lou?"_

Lou sighed, but she obeyed her mother's commands. "Yes, mom, I will."

_"Promise?"_

"_Yes."_

_"Do you swear on the sake and pride of your Holy Crucifix?"_

"Mom.."

Jessica responded by laughing, and Lou couldn't help but to join in, if not as enthusiastically.

"_I'll try to visit you as soon as I can, sweetie", _Jessica assured her daughter as their conversation was drawing to an end. _"In the meanwhile, enjoy yourself with whatever job you may pick…. Oh, and I winked as I said that", _she added humorously, receiving a chuckle from her daughter.

"I will, mom, don't worry", Lou said through a warm smile.

"_I love you, sweetie,"_

"Love you too, mommy. Say hello to Dad for me, and give him a hug."

_"Definitely. Bye, Lulu,"_

"Bye,"

They hung up, leaving Lou to her noble mission of finding a summer job's article somewhere among all the different kinds of papers in this room. Lou exhaled briefly before getting to work; luckily, she managed to find a decent newspaper within the next five minutes, which was undoubtedly a new personal record since Lou wasn't very good when it came to sorting and dividing her papers and notebooks into groups. However, as Lou held the slightly rumpled newspaper in a sloppy grasp, she turned on the lights of her Mars-designed desk lamp, sat down, paid a swift glance to the front page and thereafter commenced to turn the first page.

"Eeehh…. Summer job, summer job, summer job…"

Incessantly spinning on the seat of her blue office chair, Lou skimmed through the newspaper in her hands in search of any article consisting of decent summer job content. Or more accurately, now that she had no choice but to pick a job, she actually had one in mind already which of the likes she favored positively, as that particular job happened to be the very one that she had intentionally engaged herself in for the last four years, ever since her first day of summer working. And that one job just coincidentally happened to be babysitting.

It was not that she considered herself expressly experienced with that kind of job or anything; to be honest, Lou wasn't sure why she felt like she preferred babysitting above other jobs; one reason might be because of the fact that she didn't have any younger siblings of her own, and thus she never got to experience the feeling of taking care and playing with a little child in that unique way siblings do it. Another reason might be because she simply liked kids in general, or it might plainly be that she was ultimately too lazy to try and find another job; the latter might actually be awkwardly true.

As Lou lazily eyed the pages in front of her upon reaching the summer job employing sections, she suddenly came to an abrupt pause to examine closer the article that her gaze had just roved by as a certain name caught her attention: _'Timothy Hudson'._

Coming to a halt in her chair spinning and blinking in surprise, she instantly reread the article to make sure that her vision wasn't playing tricks on her, this time more carefully:

_'Request of babysitter for young boy_

_Name: Timothy Hudson, Age: 12 – Very nice and sweet, rarely gives you a hard time and is very playful but obedient. Might pull a prank now and then but usually he has no intention of starting serious quarrels. Further necessary information will be given personally by guardian at given location._

_Requested babysitting time: 9.00 – 19.00 (Mondays to Fridays) optionally 13.00 – 21.00 (Weekends)_

_If interested, please contact us by the following phone number or the email address listed below…'_

Not bothering to read any further, Lou dumped the limp accumulation of papers on her desk and proceeded to bend down and pull out one of the drawers below. Rummaging in the messy jumble of poorly placed paper bundles, pencils and notebooks, Lou somehow managed to locate and pull out a certain scrap of paper where a phone number written in old and faded ink could be distinguished. Non-coincidentally, it proved to be the exact same number as the one that was written in the newspapers, the one belonging to Ms. and Mr. Hudson, Timothy's parents.

And why had this peculiar number been hidden away in Lou Mounds' overcrowded drawer, buried beneath a mess of inconsiderable paper sheets for several years of time? Exclusively because Lou had, in fact, been babysitting this one boy, Timothy, for three out of four years of her babysitting days; only last year had his parents contacted her and told her that she was no longer needed in their home, as the two full-time workers had acquired a change of working schedule that allowed them to work only part-time, thereby enabling them to stay at home with their son more regularly and take care of him themselves.

_But now, _Lou thought, knitting her eyebrows in wonder as she gazed down at the newspaper beneath her, _it seems like they need someone to take care of Timmy again…_

Unexpectedly, a faint smile curled Lou's lips at the thought of suddenly reverting back to her babysitting services. Presumably it may not be that strange, as Lou had served as a babysitter for the same child throughout three whole years, and she wouldn't deny herself the fact that she may factually have gained a fair amount of valuable experience due to that, so she had no reason to feel nervous or something such. But above all, she was frankly kind of happy to get the chance to reunite with Timothy, as she had developed a middling liking, even affinity, towards him. And although they hadn't seen each other or even stayed in touch since the day she left, for the time being, Lou had gotten to taste the feeling of sort-of having a kid brother, at least partially.

He had probably changed noticeably during this year though, as he was a growing boy and everything, but oh well; seeing as Lou didn't have much of a choice but to pick a job soon enough anyway, she might as well take the opportunity of picking one that she was at least a tiny tad familiar with.

Deciding that this was not the time for dwelling on meaningless hesitations, Lou picked up her phone and calmly dialled the number indicated in the papers. Just as she had entered the final figure and touched the 'Call' icon, the teenage girl semi-consciously allowed her eyes to fall onto the newspaper scripts once more as she gazed at the few lines of biographical information on Timothy; she raised a skeptic eyebrow at one particular sentence of which she hadn't paid attention to before:

'… _recently come up with a funny imaginary friend, for those of you with a wild fantasy…' _

… _Imaginary friend, huh, _she repeated in her head, not taking her eyes off of the page. _I don't recall him having one the last time I saw him… but after all, that _was _a while ago. And I guess it's only natural for kids to come up with an imaginary friend every now and then… not that I remember if I ever had one…_

Lou eventually wound up yawning widely as she sat back in her chair, waiting for someone to pick up the phone on the other end of the line, and she realized that she was tired; sleepy, really. Casting a swift glance on her wristwatch, which claimed the time to be 22.32, Lou raised her hand to scratch her scalp, out of habit.

As Ms. Hudson finally picked up on the other line, she greeted Lou with surprise but kindness and alleviation when she had finally realized who it was that was calling, which honestly was quite surprising as Lou had thought that this lady had forgotten all about her. Whilst in the middle of the lively conversation despite the late hour, Lou wrote herself a mental note of going to bed 'early' tonight, so that she would have the energy to get up and be on her way hopefully by 8am. After all, it would take a while to drive halfway through Oxford to get to where Timothy and his family lived. She had to admit that she had her doubts whether she would make it or not, but as long as she remembered to set her alarm clock and as long as Ms. and Mr. Hudson were forgiving, it would probably work out just fine.

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**Uh… are prologues supposed to be short? Did I mess it up? … Oh well, as long as it's readable, I guess it's fine… eheh… *w***

**And thanks for reading, if only this far, and feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think because it always helps out a lot (feel absolutely free to point out mistakes, grammar corrections, anything^^ I personally SUCK at reviewing my stories… so your help would be useful ;)) and is mighty appreciated C=) No flames though… criticism will be accepted with open arms and a warm hug, but no flames… them will go straight to my mental garbage can of abandoned stories and hateful comments :3**


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